Thanks so much Dee.
I can honestly say that drinking isn't causing me any problems thus far, but I do feel guilt a few days after.
I find that my usual Fri/Sat night routine is easy to get over (in a hangover sense). This accounts for 90% of my drinking.
The other 10% of my drinking happens at parties, social functions or other gatherings where everyone is drinking, and i tend to go harder sometimes.
It's these times that I have a hard time recovering from: not from a hangover, but from a mental point of view, meaning that it's so much harder to get 'back to the grind' Monday morning. I just find it hard to get moving again and it often takes me 3 days to feel totally normal. There was no hangover or anything, I just feel like I took a trip "elsewhere" on Fri/Sat night and am coming back from this other dark place. I hope this makes sense. I find that I don't have this 'odd' feeling at the start of a new work week if I stayed sober on the weekend. It's a mental thing I suppose.
It's not causing me any family/social problems or anything, and as I said I have no problem staying sober when required (something of importance the next day, etc.) I have never craved alcohol.
I'm just wondering if I'm at a level of drinking which can stay at this level throughout my life or am I likely to spiral at some point for whatever given reason, seeing that alcoholism is progressive. Right now I feel it's in check, even though I think 8 beer per night is a little much. So I'm kind of in caution mode right now.
If I tell myself I'm not drinking this weekend, I can do it easily. But I find it a waste of time knowing that I can do it, so I just drink it.
If I didn't have a drinking problem then why do I drink like this on weekends, even though it's in a scheduled manner.
I'm thinking that if I was drinking 3 or 4 beer per Fri/Sat night I wouldn't be concerned. But since it's twice that, maybe that's where my concern comes in.